Author's Note: OH. MY. GAWD. I DID IT. I FREAKING GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL!! Not that I didn't think I would, but--IT'S FINALLY OVER! Now on to the world! And due to my awesomely ecstatic mood that has remained unsullied and increasingly ecstatic for the past two weeks that I've been GRADUATED, I give you the second-to-last chapter of Life With No Green. I'm going river-rafting this weekend, but by this time next week, I daresay you guys will be blessed with the last chapter (of epic length, though, I'm starting to think), and maybe a couple days later the epilogue. It's about time we get down to business on finishing this up, right? This may be an incredible and stunning piece of work (haha I know, but I've gotten a big head from your reviews :D) but all good things must come to an end and I'm ready to move on to new beginnings on new stories and maybe in new fandoms...SO ON TOWARDS THE SUNSET!!
...Yes, I'm enthusiastic and overly-excited. Sorry. BUT CAN YOU BLAME ME?! :DDDDDDDDD
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the Teen Titans show or comics.
Kid Flash peered around Raven's shoulder, watching Robin pour a glass of water.
"Are you two serious?"
They didn't say anything.
"Why didn't I know about this sooner?!"
Raven nearly growled. "We had no need to tell you."
"Raven," Robin warned as he leaned against the kitchen counter. He looked at Kid Flash's unbelieving face. "We're sorry we didn't let you know sooner, but at first it didn't concern you and then we just got too busy. But we could really use your help now, if you don't mind."
Kid Flash gaped.
Twenty-two minutes ago, Raven had found him snooping around outside Cyborg's workshop—and then had been bombarded with questions concerning "just-where-the-hell-everyone-had-disappeared-to". Robin chose to step out of Cyborg's workshop for a break right about then, and found himself confronted in the same peeved manner.
Frankly, the Titans had pretty much forgotten about the fact that Kid Flash was out of the loop.
And so, after explaining where exactly the "missing" teen hero Beast Boy had gone, and realizing Raven hadn't gotten any sleep yet, he and Cyborg were apparently no where close to getting any leads, and Starfire would be returning from her shift watching Beast Boy soon, Robin decided Kid Flash would take the next shift. Without refusal.
Kid Flash, though, seemed to have some differing ideas about the subject.
"I thought I was a member of this team! But you guys apparently don't think so! So why the hell should I take orders from you?!" He crossed his arms, taking a step or two back and glaring angrily at the two Titans in front of him.
"You were accepted onto this team only because circumstances called for it!" Raven practically spat. "We had no need to involve you in our personal matters, and there's no need for you to get so worked up about it."
"Raven," Robin warned again, watching Raven and Kid Flash closely. He knew there had always been tension between them, and it seemed to be escalating frightfully fast at the moment.
Kid Flash laughed harshly. "For me to get worked up about it?!"
Robin set his glass of water down, deciding to interrupt. "Kid Flash, I'm truly sorry we left you out of this, we didn't mean for you to be excluded as a member of the team—"
"Yeah, well, not all of you," Kid Flash snorted, glancing at Raven. Her eyes flashed.
Robin ignored his comment. "—and since you are a member of this team right now, I would really appreciate it if you helped us out. As a comrade, as a friend—there's a kid we all think of as family dying right now, and you can help us save him. And even though you've only been with us for a short while, we think of you as family now too and would go to these lengths to help you as well. So please."
Kid Flash frowned, but let his hands drop to his hips. "You put it that way and make me seem like a bad guy. I'll help for the kid's sake, but...you all sure haven't made me feel like part of the family, keeping me in the dark about all of this. I expect you to answer for that later on."
Robin sighed, and nodded. "I understand. But thanks."
"Hmph," was all Kid Flash replied with.
"Well—now that that's settled—"
All three of the Titans swerved around to see Cyborg standing at the top of the stairs, grin on his face. None of them had noticed he came in.
"Cyborg...?" Robin said.
The half-robot's grin widened. "You'll love this Robin—I got a lead."
Robin and Raven immediately perked up, eyes widening.
"What is it?!" Robin exclaimed. Kid Flash looked lost.
Cyborg chuckled. "Whoever it was, they finally screwed up in their calculations—I noticed a false trail that couldn't logically or possibly connect with the rest of the patterns. Lead to a factor that in turn leads straight to the culprit's hardware signature."
Excitement at the catch rose in Robin. "Then that means—"
It was then that several things decided to happen all at once.
Before Robin could finish his sentence, Starfire burst in through the doors that lead from the main corridor of the Tower, panic in her eyes and a frantic air about her. "Friends! Robin! Something terrible has happened!"
Ice trickled down Raven's spine.
"Friend Beast Boy! He is gone!"
Barely had the words left her mouth when a distant explosion rocked the Tower, and the Tower's alarm began screaming as the room the Titans were flashed red. Just as suddenly, the room exploded with glass as the huge window that overlooked the bay shattered, raining down on the stunned Titans as they hit the floor. Dust and wind filled the room as a familiar, dreaded voice suddenly echoed against the walls, making Robin's heart turn cold.
"How nice to see you again, Titans—Robin. I did miss you so while I was away."
Everything was unbelievably cold.
That was the first thought that hazily ran through Gar's head as he slowly drifted back to consciousness. There was a distant, constant pulsing at the back of his head, which he somehow instinctively knew was going to be one whopper of a headache when he was totally awake. As he slowly realized he was waking up, he also realized he couldn't feel the tips of his fingers or toes all that well—or his nose. A dim light attempted to bleed past his closed eyelids. His throat felt scratchy and dry. He seemed to be sitting up, as a deathly-cold, hard something was pressing against his shoulder-blades and spine. Goosebumps erupted all over his body in waves as different limbs and muscles shivered uncontrollably and involuntarily, bare skin of his legs resting on what felt like a distinctively metal floor. Cold, of course...
Wait...bare...?
With a quiet moan, Gar struggled to lift his head off of his left shoulder and inched his eyelids open. His tongue felt fuzzy, and thick. The pangs in the back of his head grew more intense. As he opened his eyes all the way, first everything was incredibly bright, then incredibly dark—he blinked, eyes adjusting to the dim, yellow light hanging over him, illuminating his spot on the floor a couple of feet in every direction; beyond that bubble of light, all was dark. Gar blinked again, pulling his thoughts and head together—everything seemed so misty, filled with a fog he couldn't quite shake—again, he blinked, harder this time, trying to blink away the grogginess and haziness. He attempted to focus on the silver-metal floor between his white thighs, thinking that focusing on one thing would bring some order to his scattered brain—
White. White thighs...?
Suddenly, Gar didn't have a problem focusing anymore.
With a sharp intake of breath, Gar weakly sat up straight, taking in the fact that he seemed to be stark-naked, with wrists bound behind his back and secured to the metal pole he was currently leaning against.
Now THIS is one of those situations I would've never thought I'd be in...
Teeth chattering, but now more or less awake—he was still having trouble thinking straight—Gar glanced around with what he imagined was an undoubtedly beet-red face as he quickly clamped his legs together, knees up, hiding his...boyhood...from any stray and unwanted eyes that could be hiding in the shadows. Where the hell am I? Gar wondered as he jiggled his wrists up and down a bit, testing the bindings—the chain links rattled against the metal pole. And then, he remembered—waking up in the hospital bed, in the pitch black night, feeling uneasy, then all of a sudden being grabbed, hands clamping down, holding him, then a prick, then—well, then he was here.
So great. Now in addition to a fatal African disease killing him second by second, he was kidnapped and without any clothes? When had he said he'd hit rock bottom? Because this was certainly a new low. Dare he ask if things could get any worse?
His cheek itched. With a sigh, Gar rubbed it against one of his shoulders, wondering when whoever had done this would show their face—wait, his skin was rough...? He looked down out of the corner of his eye. Funny, he didn't remember having a scab there...
That's when he noticed the faint bite-marks outlining it...and the fact that there seemed to be another on his bicep...and oh, look, another on his chest...and then another down near—
Gar's eyes bugged. Now that was just going a little too far!
"Fuck," he whispered ferociously, jumping a bit when his voice still echoed around. Any given day he'd love to be victim to hickie-attacks, but he preferred to know who was doing the hicky-ing and being conscious for the ordeal...
He wondered if he could add molestation to his list of recent mishaps...
A quiet, quick clinking broke into Gar's thoughts, causing him to freeze and strain his ears for any other whispers of sound. But as soon as he concentrated, the noise stopped. Gar stayed completely still for a good couple of moments of complete silence. Maybe it had been his imagination? Gar closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the pole behind him, sighing quietly. Well. What was he supposed to do now? Then—there it was again!
Gar jerked forward and snapped open is eyes to come face-to-face with a black, shining helmet barely a centimeter from his nose.
Everything was motionless and surprised for three seconds
And then Gar screamed.
"GYAAAAH!"
Attempting to scramble back and away from the black figure crouching in front of him, Gar merely found his entire spine pressed harshly against the pole as the chains around his wrists clicked and his feet uselessly slid and slipped against the polished steel floor. The figure didn't do anything, just watched Gar panic with a cocked head. Eyes wide and chest heaving, Gar watched the crouched figure carefully, and began to regain his composure a bit when the figure made no sudden moves to decapitate him or whatever. And that's also when a coughing fit decided to kick in.
The hacking was tortuous, and Gar found himself leaning towards the figure with his coughs instead the preferred keeping as far away as possible—but the figure remained as it was, just cocking its head even further to the side. Then, over his trembling chest and rumbling coughs, Gar heard a silky, husky voice that sent chills throughout his body.
"So he's finally awake, my pet? But you mustn't upset him so..."
Gar tried to stifle his coughing and watched as a long, black leather stiletto boot emerged from the shadows, followed by the swish of a lab coat and a cascade of curly, midnight-black hair. Gar briefly wondered how he had missed the distinct click of those boots approaching. Blood-red lips curved upwards wickedly at him, as the tall, full-busted figure sauntered forward, and a steel-cold, glinting hazel gaze focused on him.
"...after all, he is on the brink of death, I suppose."
Three thoughts ran through Gar's head at the sight of the woman bending over him.
One: good god she was hot.
Two: why did she look familiar?
Three: who the hell was she and why was she staring so creepily at him?
The coughing finally subsided with a last, undignified and disgusting-sounding hack on Gar's part and he was able to breathlessly relay this last thought to the woman. Well, the first part of it anyway.
"Who the hell are you?"
The woman's smile widened and she clicked her tongue—"Tsk, tsk, Logan, you must watch your mouth, it's rude to use bad language."
Gar stared at her.
She bent closer to him, leering, black curls falling around her face. "You do, by the way, have a rather deliciously-enticing moan when touched in the right places, my dear boy—that should come out of your mouth more often, in my opinion."
Gar's face shone a deep red as he sputtered, leaning away from the woman. "W-what the hell?! Who are—"
She threw back her head as she shrieked in laughter, causing Gar to jump and rattle the chains against the pole. Still chuckling, she looked back at Gar and placed one stiletto boot on one side of his shivering figure and another on his other side before settling down and straddling Gar. He felt his face heat up exponentially as she pressed her pelvis and inner thighs against his hips and stomach, stroking a neatly red-painted fingernail against his chest as she leaned forward. Gar gulped as he leaned backwards.
"You don't know who I am? I'm hurt, Logan." She leaned further in and her lips brushed his right ear. "I would've thought your father would have at least mentioned Melina Ragonu..."
Gar started, and the woman—Ragonu—leaned back to observe Gar's stunned face with a taunting grin.
"...You—you knew my father?"
Ragonu laughed again, and enveloped Gar in her arms so his face conveniently into her bust—she grinned wider as he attempted to lean away from her forced embrace. "Knew? Oh, Logan, I knew you—every inch of your mind, your soul, your body..."
What?
Gar's face flushed yet again as Ragonu started grinding herself against him, making no effort at being subtle at all. Oh-kay, he decided it was time for her to get off...
"Ah, what's this?" Ragonu purred. "Struggling? But we're having so much fun, Logan!" She licked the side of his face.
"Ah-AUGH! Gross!"
Ragonu chuckled—and rather evilly; Gar was beginning to think she might not be mentally stable.
"I've been looking forward to meeting you face-to-face, Logan, ever since the day I saw you—found you. I've been watching you, you know—following you. To think you finally returned from Africa! And left that dreadful Marie behind, too!"
Gar froze at the sound of his mother's name.
Ragonu's eyes narrowed and she smiled a very feline-like smile at Gar's halt in movement. She leaned forward to whisper in Gar's ear again. "You know," her voice was low, and husky, "I knew who you wanted all along, Logan. I knew you really wanted me. Because I've always loved you."
Gar blinked. Whaaaaaaaaaaat?
Suddenly something wet and warm was on the side of his neck, sucking—hands gripped him, sliding and caressing fiercely, cool to the touch but erupting flames where they touched. Gar sat there, stunned, body shaking, freezing, and yet so feverishly hot, as the wetness worked its way down his neck, down his chest, onto his stomach, sending shivers down his spine and across his body. And it kept traveling, kept moving downward until—
That's ENOUGH.
In no time a sharp crack sounded and Ragonu was thrown away from Gar as his knee connected solidly with her jaw. Before she could catch herself Gar let loose another well-aimed, forceful kick at her side which sent her rolling a few paces across the floor. He hadn't been a superhero for nothing, you know. Gar's face was grim and determined as his leg shot forward to strike again—this time, however, Ragonu was ready. She scrambled out of the way and managed to catch Gar's kick between the floor and one of her stiletto boots.
Ragonu glared down at Gar as she dug her boot into his shin, earning a grimace from Gar. Her jaw was already swelling and darkening where he had hit it. Black locks fell messily over her face, misplaced and frazzled from the brief beating.
"You little bastard...you dare hit me?"
Ice ran down Gar's spine at the feral, growling undertones in her voice.
"I offer you love—and you reject me again, Logan. I give you everything, and you always reject me," Ragonu hissed. "It's that damn bitch! It has to be!"
Gar gaped, unsure of how to react.
"I've always loved you, yet you chose her...I've always—ALWAYS!" Ragonu roared, advancing towards Gar.
Gar's eyes widened as she drew back a stiletto boot, heel aimed at his ribs.
This woman was insane!
"Raven! Watch OUT!"
With a giant gust of wind and a swirl of dust, a huge chunk of the Titan Tower flew through the air where Raven had been only moments before, generously thrown by a monstrously raging Cinderblock. In what used to be the left side of he Tower's living room, Cyborg dodged a pile of acidic muck thrown by a monstrously raging Plasmus, barely managing to not let it burn through his head as he had been distracted by his warning yell towards Raven who was levitating a few meters away.
It was a fierce battle that at the moment encompassed most of the middle floors of the Tower—Raven and Cyborg were preoccupied with Plasmus and Cinderblock in what...used to be the entertainment room and kitchen, Starfire was fighting a Hotrod in the night sky beside the Tower, and Kid Flash was busy attempting to stem the flow of evil Slade-clone robots that seemed to be pouring into the Tower in every which direction. Robin had disappeared, no doubt on the trail of Slade himself. All in all, it was mostly one of those typical battles with overwhelming odds and terrifying chances of failure that the Titans always managed to land themselves in, but then again in which the Titans were always able to pull off a victory. Mostly.
The fact that Plasmus, Cinderblock, and Hotrod all seemed to be displaying enhanced superpowers made the odds a little too overwhelming...
"Just what's the deal here?!" Cyborg shouted as he ducked behind the half-destroyed couch as more muck fell around him. "Last time we fought these guys, Plasmus wasn't made of acidic sludge and didn't have toxic bad breath, and Cinderblock definitely couldn't mold himself into different cement...things!"
Raven eyed the exasperated Cyborg out of the corner of her eye as she encased Cinderblock's stretching, oozing wet-cement hand in black energy before sending him flying through the Tower's stove. The building shook.
"Obviously they've grown more powerful," Raven yelled back dryly, quickly looking around the room for any sign of Slade or Robin. A robot head flew pass her face closely followed by a couple of robotic limb as Kid Flash dismembered a few with faster-than-lightening high-powered kicks. Lasers from Starfire's eyes glanced off a crumbling wall as Hotrod evaded her aim.
Cyborg rolled his eyes, letting c canon blast hit Plasmus in the face. The monster nearly reformed, of course, and Cyborg set off a few more blasts in a futile attempt to slow him down. "No, duh, Raven, thanks a bunch."
"That's why I said obviously."
In all honesty, Raven had no idea what exactly was going on but did not really care one way or another. Her mind was somewhere else—mainly, on what Starfire had said seconds before all hell had broken loose.
"Friend Beast Boy! He is gone!"
All that Raven really knew and really cared about was that a certain hulk of deranged cement was standing between her and what she really wanted to be doing: finding Beast Boy.
Finding Gar.
Suddenly Robin fell through the ceiling, bringing a couple pounds of plaster and a steel railing with him. With a sickening thud he landed on his back and groaned, wincing magnificently. Cyborg started, as Robin had landed literally right next to him behind the couch. He took one look at Robin's bloodied nose and swelling cheekbone, and gave a crooked, knowing grin.
"Robin! Old buddy, old pal...guess you found Slade?"
A wicked, deep-throated laugh echoed from somewhere above. "Oh, you Titans always amuse me so...I do hope you're enjoying the little presents I brought you."
Starfire blasted into the wrecked room to crunch into a wall, thrown by a flaming Hotrod. "Slade," she spat, pulling herself from the wall. "What have you done?"
Robin picked himself up from the floor, poising and searching the shadows above. "And what are you planning?"
Raven dodged a punch from Cinderblock and managed to slam the refrigerator on him. Cyborg continued shooting canon blasts.
"Robin. Titans." Something flickered in Raven's peripheral vision, and she whipped around only to see nothing. In a second she was sent flying as Cinderblock swatted her while her guard was down.
"What have I done? I brought along a couple of genetically-altered super-thugs to destroy you and your Tower at my bidding. Obviously."
Robin leaped at and began pounding something in a shadow before pulling back as a robotic arm flopped and sparked wildly. His eyes darted around behind his mask once again, searching.
"But what am I planning? You should, perhaps, be asking who genetically-altered these thugs what she is planning..."
Kid Flash threw a robotic head at a shadowed corner of the room only to make a clicking sound with his tongue and turn back to the still continuous flow of robots when the head simply clattered to the ground. He had thought he had him...
"What she is planning, especially with that annoying little brat you once called a teammate."
Time froze.
The Titans halted their fighting, if even for only a moment, and let the gravity of the words Slade had just said hit them. And they hit them hard.
"SLADE!" Robin snarled, face screwed in fury and frustration.
Starfire gave a battle cry and began pounding with fury anew.
Kid Flash gulped as the number of robots appeared to suddenly increase.
"RAVEN!" Cyborg blocked a piece of flying cement with his arm so it wouldn't snap Raven in half. Raven stared ahead, with stunned eyes, not sure what she was doing as her head swam.
Gar—who has...he's—NO!
"RAVEN!"
Raven's navy orbs focused on Cyborg's strained and sweating face.
"You know how to find him, right?!"
Find...the link. Raven remembered. She nodded slowly.
"Then go FIND HIM!"
Slade smiled beneath his mask from somewhere within the shadows of the battle as he watched the demon-girl Raven zoom away from the Tower, face set in determination. Cinderblock did not pursue her, but turned his attention to Robin.
Slade chuckled darkly.
Things were going just the way he planned...
Melina Ragonu watched with bright eyes and a wicked smile as the boy in front of her let out a painful, gut-wrenching moan, curled in fetal position on the floor in a futile attempt to escape her beating and pounding. She laughed cruelly. It wasn't her fault the boy refused to acknowledge the situation. Refused to acknowledge her...who knew Logan could be so stubborn? Especially when she had worked so hard.
From his place on the floor, Gar spat blood, trying hard to keep the silhouette of Ragonu is his swimming, quickly-fading vision—his body trembled as he painfully drew in a shaking breath, fighting unconsciousness with all his might. The swelled beginnings of bruises littered his body from where Ragonu had kicked him; he was positive a couple ribs had already snapped. His lip was busted and more than a few teeth were loose. Something warm which Gar heavily suspected was blood oozed down his face from somewhere on his head. That was the worst part of being tied up: Gar's hands and arms were strung up behind him by the chains, useless in helping protect his face and head.
There was also the cold sweat that his body had broken out in, and the increasingly insistent pounding in his head that had not been helped in the slightest by Ragonu's beating. Yeah, things weren't going to well for him.
"Now Logan, I'll ask again: why don't you behave—then we could have such a brilliant time," Ragonu purred from above Gar, causing him to feel more nauseous than he already felt due to what he knew was a rising fever.
"And I'll say again, I'm not my father. Tell me who—hack—you are and why...you knew my father!'
Ragonu sighed through her nose and rolled her eyes. He wasn't budging. A quiet cooing noise caused Ragonu to whip around and see her pet gesturing a bit towards the control room Ragonu had been sitting in until the boy had awakened. She narrowed her eyes.
Without warning, she suddenly stooped down and placed two fingers near Gar's jugular. He started, bolting upright and wrenching open his drooping eyes. "What're you—?!"
Ragonu rose just as suddenly, rubbing her chin. Her pet was right. Best to get a move on—the boy's pulse was rising rapidly. The disease was taking hold faster than she had expected. Well...no matter. Things would still go as planned.
Things would go as planned, because they should go as planned. Never again would they not go as planned.
"As planned," she muttered to no one in particular.
Gar lifted his head weakly in response to her voice and caught her attention. "Things didn't go as planned for you after you left, mmmmmmmmm, did they, Logan?"
She bent down and harshly cradled Gar's chin with her red nails. Gar looked at her wearily, though defiantly. He still had no idea what she was talking about.
"No, they didn't...and here's the proof right here." She threw Gar aside and spat at him before beginning to stalk towards the exit. "You couldn't have a precious little picturesque family, and here's the proof right here. Your mistake, your disaster. Right THERE."
Gar stared as Ragonu pointed an accusing finger at him. He...didn't think she was talking to him anymore. As if in response to his thoughts, however, Ragonu seemed to suddenly refocus on him.
"You're going to die within the hour, boy. I would ask if you had any last words you'd like me to pass on, but most definitely I won't pass them on. Perhaps if you had cooperated..."
Gar coughed. "What?! What's that supposed to mean?! Who ARE you—?!"
Ragonu ignored him, and turned to leave once more.
Gar felt his temper spark, despite his current condition and situation. "Fine! It doesn't matter, I don't care who you are! I know my friends will be hear eventually to kick your ass—"
Ragonu gave a bark of laughter, turning back towards Gar slowly so he could see her wild eyes. "Your friends, boy? Which ones?" She took a menacing step towards him, a faint outline in the dark. "The ones that are simple-minded city-going teenagers, partying at a club right now downtown, without a clue that you're in danger? Without a clue that you're dying from Sakutia?" Another creeping step. "Or the ones who abandoned you once you'd changed, deemed you worthless once you'd lost what most only dream of having—that inhuman power of science fiction and comic books?" Again, a step, this time into the light. "The friends who kept the knowledge you were dying to themselves? The friends who let their guard down enough to let me get you? The friends who, right now, are being torn apart by Slade and his minions and are entirely oblivious to your whereabouts or your wellbeing?"
Gar watched, her, wide-eyed, speechless. How did she know all this...?
"I daresay they are more worried about their own wellbeing as of the current."
Gar swallowed, forcing sound out of his mouth. "That's not—that's not—"
"That's not true?" Ragonu laughed maliciously. "It most certainly is. If the world is such a place where feelings can be denied and betrayed, souls broken and abandoned, it most certainly is true."
Ragonu's sneering face disappeared into the darkness as she began to leave once again. "You are living proof that love is a fairy-tale just as easily made as destroyed. You are living proof that the world cannot always be as we wish it, and people will not do what we wish they would do. What we know they should do."
The sound of a door creaking open and shutting echoed throughout the room, and Gar sat in silence as the light above him dimmed. Then Ragonu's voice filled the room, crackling over an intercom.
"I know more about you, Garfield Logan, than you would ever know, and not even I am about to save you."